Transfer Bihar Home case to POCSO court: SC

“Enough is enough. Children cannot be treated like this. You cannot let your officers treat children this way. Spare the children,” the Supreme Court told the Bihar government.

The
Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the transfer of the Muzaffarpur shelter home
sexual assault case from Bihar to a court in New Delhi and slammed the state
government for its management of shelter homes.

It
said the court will summon the chief secretary if the state fails to give all information
related to the case. “We are not running the government and we are asking
you how you are running the government. We are entitled to know” the SC said.

A
bench, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, said the cases should be
transferred from the Bihar CBI court to a POCSO (Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences) Saket trial court within two weeks. It ordered the
Saket trial court to conclude the trial within six months.

The
apex court also rapped the CBI for transferring its officer probing the sexual
assault case and said it amounted to a violation of its order. A
bench asked the investigating agency to file an affidavit giving an
explanation.

Several
girls were allegedly raped and sexually abused at an NGO-run shelter home in
Muzaffarpur. The issue came to light in May last year following a report by the
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).